CBS News Contributor, 2 Others Slain In Gaza

AP Photo

Three journalists, including a contributor to CBS News, were killed Wednesday when an Israeli airstrike hit their car in central Gaza, shortly after they left a camp for displaced people.

The victims were identified as Abdel Raouf Shaat (also known as Abdul Raouf Shaat or Abed Shaat), a freelance cameraman who regularly contributed to CBS News and Agence France-Presse (AFP); Mohamed Qishta (also reported as Mohammed Salah Qashta); and Anas Ghneim (also Anas Ghoneim or Anas Ghanem).

The three were filming footage at a displacement camp managed by an Egyptian government relief committee in the Netzarim/al-Zahra area when the strike occurred on their vehicle about a mile away as they departed. The incident took place amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Gaza, despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire with Hamas that began in October.

Slain Journalists

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that troops identified suspects operating a drone affiliated with Hamas in a manner that posed a threat to soldiers, and conducted a precise strike on them. The IDF said the incident is under examination but provided no immediate evidence linking the journalists to the drone.

AFP mourned Shaat, who had contributed regularly as a photo and video journalist for nearly two years (though not on assignment for AFP at the time), describing him as a "kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humor and as a deeply committed journalist." CBS News president Tom Cibrowski informed staff of Shaat's death during a Wednesday morning call, revealing that the journalist had gotten married just weeks earlier. 

Although not on assignment for CBS at the time, Shaat had filed regularly from Khan Yunis during the war, including sending video from the back of an ambulance after being wounded on one occasion. Colleagues remembered him as a brave and deeply loved journalist.